Caroline van Dullemen is a social scientist focused on international relations and developmental issues. She has been working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for almost a decade and has various publications on her name, in particular two books on the political and economic developments in South Africa were she closely followed the political .
In 2004 she founded WorldGranny, non profit organization on aging and development. Because she is concerned about the effects of Global Aging on the quality of life of older people. She believes that in the Western world we have a too romantic views about growing old in Africa or Asia.
Less and less families can take care of their older relatives. And moreover, millions of grandmothers take care of their grandchildren, after they have lost their own children due to the aids epidemic. Without proper financial means they struggle to make ends meet and raise their grandchildren who dream of a better future. Migration is another factor that urges older people, often living in the rural areas, to be more self reliant.
WorldGranny is partner of HelpAge International, a worldwide network of organizations that work with and for older people to improve their lives and that of their relatives. In close cooperation with the government and the financial sector, pension funds, insurance companies, the Dutch Central Bank, van Dullemen focuses on developing micro pensions schemes as a structural means for poverty prevention worldwide.
Pension is an important, systemic solution to the consequences of demographic transitions. Van Dullemen is only child, and she always realized that, if she had to pay for her parents longevity, she never had been able to be properly educated. The impact of pensions is not only positive for the older generation, but for the younger generations as well, because they are liberated from the financial responsibilities for their parents.
In 2012 WorldGranny obtained the consultative status at the United Nations/ECOSOC.
Caroline van Dullemen is member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum.
This cause is special, something different and something that responds to a profound need. We often think about the young, because we see their potential for change and a better future. But the elderly are equally valuable. I often regret that in our modern world we do not spend time among several generations. We have so much to learn from each other and the old sentiment of respect toward old age is often forgotten. (Chiara Gerlich, TdF, Quito).
March 8, International Women Day 2012
Bonne Fête à toutes les Femmes et notamment à celles de Tonalités de Femmes non pas aujourd’hui, seulement, mais hier déjà, puis demain, après-demain et tous les jours à venir ! Cheick Oumar Kanté, écrivain.